The weather balloon that West Ranch High School students launched on Friday reached more than 80,000 feet and spent about two and a half hours in the air, to study radiation at the edge of the atmosphere.

[KHTS] – West Ranch High School students are preparing for the second annual balloon launch filled with science experiments on May 13.

West Ranch High School’s illustrious Astronomy Program will be launching a high altitude balloon loaded with various high tech experiments from the West Ranch campus on May 13 at 4 p.m., school officials said.

“Our astronomy class was divided into groups, and each group created an experiment,” said Jacob Pascua, a West Ranch student, and the PR team coordinator.

In addition to designing all experiments, students are solely responsible for all aspects of launch, payload and sensor configuration, reconnaissance and media documentation, school officials said. This project is unique to West Ranch High School and the SCV, and meets all goals of the Next Generation Science Standards.

The upcoming event is orchestrated by West Ranch High School’s Astronomy program, led by Mrs. Christine Hirst, school officials said. Prospective students of the sciences will be conducting various experiments to be tested aboard the balloon.

With this program, West Ranch is providing students an opportunity to hone their research and experimentation skills as well as to apply the same development methods used in the fields of science and engineering, school officials said. Given the rapid pace of research and the many stellar influences that affect life on Earth, the school believes it is important to promote involvement in programs and careers with such high prospects at a young age.